Claudia Hardbroom
Claudia Hardbroom is the deputy Headmistress and potions teacher of Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. She is the wife of Thomas Chamberlain, the Chosen One and the mother of Delilia Chamberlain, who she gave up for adoption. Claudia is portrayed by Raquel Cassidy . History Birth Claudia grew up in a strict household; she never had a birthday cake, and was only given one birthday present, usually something useful like a spellbook. Early Life Claudia has a beautiful, sleek black cat called Morgana. Claudia owned her magic broomstick for twenty-five years, until Mildred accidentally breaks it, when she jumps on Claudia having mistaken her for an evil witch. Around the 21st century Claudia met a young man named Thomas and they both went to college together. At the age of 21, Claudia and Thomas slept together conceiving their daughter, Delilia. Thomas revealed to Claudia that the child will have inherited thousands of his enemies due to being the Chosen One. Thomas's Death In 2005 her daughter is born and she watches Thomas guard the child with all his life. 14 months later a member of the Hallow family starts a fire forcing Thomas to leave Claudia and the baby, and he makes sure that the get out safely before he does. As he tries to escape, Claudia hears Thomas screaming for his life and Claudia wanted nothing more then to help him. Apparently, his last words to Claudia was "Guard her with all life". Giving Up Delilia After her father's death, Claudia gave up on her daughter and wanted nothing to do with her. She gave her away for adoption breaking her promise that she gave to Thomas. Thomas's Return Physical Appearance Claudia is tall and thin with waist-length black hair which she keeps "scragged into such a tight knot that her forehead looked quite stretched". Claudia keeps her hair tied up in a tight bun at all times, except for the Halloween celebrations, as it’s tradition that all the witches wear their hair out for Halloween. Mildred remarks that she doesn't look half as frightening when her hair is down. Claudia wears a pocket-watch on a chain around her neck and her nails are painted black. Personality Mentioned in the first chapter of the first book of the Chamberlain Diaries, Claudia reveals that she wasn't always serious. She says due to the death of Thomas and giving up her daughter she became strict. Claudia, as deputy head, is the real power behind the throne at Cackle´s. It is her who mostly succeeds in imposing her will on everybody by means of frowning, shouting or simply talking a blue streak till everyone gives in to her. Claudia is a stickler for standards and tradition, and believes in strong discipline. She is terrifying and extremely strict, and has been described as reducing any pupil to a gibbering heap with just one word. It is her who gives Mildred the infamous title of "the worst witch in the school". Claudia is a “staunch traditionalist” ; Her life is run by tradition and she thinks computers (and all other modern technology) are infernal machines. Claudia is 'One of the greatest disciplinarians of the witch academy network, famed for upholding tradition, demanding order and instilling fear'. Powers and Abilities Claudia is an extremely powerful witch, and her primary method of casting spells was through her fingers: pointing with the index and little fingers. Her most notable ability was to appear out of nowhere, and she was the only witch (aside from Thomas) who was shown to possess this ability. Hence, the students often say that one never knew if she is truly gone, or if she was still there in an invisible state. Due to Claudia's formidable powers, it is often left up to her to save the day when situations get out of hand. When Miss Cackle's evil sister, Agatha, and her sidekicks tried to take over the school, Agatha stated that "Claudia is the really dangerous one" and must be dealt with first. During an unexpected honest conversation between Claudia and Delili, the former explained that her ability to appear out of nowhere was actually "a professional secret". Such instances testify that Claudia was well-known and feared by the adult witch community.